Guitar Hero II obviously rocks

Right there with the Grand Theft Auto and Dance Dance Revolution series, the Guitar Hero franchise is one of the titles that makes the PS2 (and eventually PS3) the best of the three gaming consoles around. Definitely something that creates a tipping point to get more people interested into buying a PS2 because they bring something new and innovative to video games since sports, first-person shooters, role-playing and action titles are pretty standard now.

My nephew Hunter has the first Guitar Hero which he received as a birthday present. But I already thought the game was awesome when I first saw it being demonstrated at Fry’s, I just could embarrass myself less in the privacy of my brother-in-law’s house instead. For Christmas though, my wife bought me the sequel that appeared in November and it’s equally impressive.

I have never really played the first game completely so this review will not make any comparisons because I’m ignorant of any differences at this time. Maybe Hunter will let me borrow it.

With GH II you can choose to play in either Career Mode, Quick Play, or Multiplayer. There is a Training segment but it didn’t help me very much with playing the super-fast notes. I only have one controller so I can’t say anything about Multiplayer neither. Quick Play is decent but the song choices are limited and it’s really for practice in my opinion. Career Mode is where the game shines and when it’s the most fun. First you make up a band name, then you pick a character to be your lead guitarist and then proceed to play gigs. The initial gig is a battle of the bands in a Midwestern high school and as you successfully play three out of four songs in the venue’s set, you progress to larger venues in bigger cities. The touring part is hilarious. You see a crudely drawn vehicle (van, bus, plane, etc.) going from location A to B and the sound effect is a person imitating the engine. Playing in Easy mode was a good start to get accustomed to the patterns with just three of the frets yet you won’t reap any of the benefits of Career Mode such as buying more guitars, outfits, additional characters or songs. I can’t play an actual guitar so Medium is the hardest I could handle with my fat fingers (four of the five frets). Despite my lack of actual talent, Medium does bring out the game’s more enjoyable aspects:

1. Virtual cash rewards for every song completed.
2. Virtual cash from sponsors as you complete each segment of the band’s climb to greater fame.
3. Using the virtual cash to buy items at the Store.
4. Performing encores after succeeding at three out of four songs in the set. The Spinal Tap cover is priceless.

My only complaint is the song choices. Sure it’s a game that’s focused on being a guitar hero which tends to be a term synonymous with Metal, Hard Rock and Classic Rock, thus GH II has Motley Crue, Warrant, Anthrax, Rush, Thin Lizzy, Heart, Cheap Trick and the Rolling Stones amongst its song choices. However, there are tracks from the Alternative, Rockabilly and Surf Rock genre too: Matthew Sweet, Pretenders, Dick Dale and the Rev. Horton Heat. They’re fun to “play” also but it just makes the game’s music feel too random. Maybe in the next version for the PS3 the publisher can set up career tracks based upon musical genres. With the PS3’s new media format being capable of storing much more than the PS2’s 4GB, maybe they can expand the game to include my suggestion or have it store a few hundred songs.